Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Price Target Lowered to $60.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $80.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 6.94% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Albemarle to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Securities decreased their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.43.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $56.11 on Tuesday. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $137.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.01 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.49.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $267,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Albemarle by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 26,098 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,804,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.